BY KEITH BARNES TRI-STATE SPORTS & NEWS SERVICE
February 20, 2024
His team trailing North Hills by two and with 4.1 seconds remaining in overtime, Fox Chapel boys basketball coach Zach Skrinjar called a timeout to gather his team on the sideline.
Under normal circumstances he would have had his whiteboard out, diagramming what he hoped would be the play that could extend the Foxes season at least another four minutes.
“That play that we drew up, we ran the last three days in practice just in case we needed it and we didn’t even have to draw it up on the board,” Skrinjar said after Monday’s game. “We said, this is what we’re going with and we did it in the morning in our walk-through.”
He couldn’t have scripted it any better.
Senior guard Jefferson Moorefield-Brown brought the ball un the court, sliced through the North Hills defense and hit a runner in the lane to tie it and send it to a second extra frame. From there, junior guard Asher White hit a critical 3-pointer that capped a quick five-point run to open the second overtime and North Hills had no answer as No. 8 Fox Chapel (13-10) escaped with a 94-84 victory against the No. 9 Indians in the opening round of the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball playoffs.
“They keep fighting and, trust me, I knew North Hills was going to keep fighting as well,” Skrinjar said. “We just kept preaching to try to get stops.”
Moorefield-Brown was one of the main reasons why Fox Chapel even got to a second overtime. The team’s super-sub sixth man came off the bench and scored a career-high 27 points including nine in the first overtime to keep the Foxes in the game.
But it was the game-tying shot in the closing seconds of the first overtime that helped Fox Chapel move on in the postseason.
“I saw an open lane and, what I saw a lot this year, someone trying to take a charge, so I just slowed down, went with my pace and made sure I made that shot,” Moorefield-Brown said. “I can’t even explain the excitement when I saw it went in.”
As thrilling as the ending was for Fox Chapel was how heart-wrenching it was for the other bench. North Hills came back from down 14 points with 2:35 remaining in the third quarter and had two incredible opportunities to come away with the win.
Trailing 74-68 with 1:14 remaining, North Hills scored the next six points — four from sophomore guard Eric James who netted 20 of his game-high 34 in the fourth quarter and overtime — to tie it, 74-74, with 36.3 seconds remaining.
Fox Chapel then made what appeared to be a critical turnover at midcourt that gave North Hills the ball with 12 seconds left to take the final shot and potentially win it in regulation.
But the shot never came. The Indians worked the perimeter and penetrated into the paint, but instead of putting up a shot, the ball was kicked out to the left wing as time expired.
“We cleared out and got kind of what we wanted and got in deep,” North Hills coach Buzz Gabos said. “I don’t think the pass was one of those ‘in the pocket’ where you get it and you’re ready to shoot, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.”
Even after the missed opportunity at the end of regulation and allowing the opening basket of overtime, North Hills appeared to take control. The Indians went on a 7-0 run behind a 3-pointer and another basket from James and took am 81-76 lead with 2:09 left.
Even after Fox Chapel fought back to tie it, 81-81, on a Moorefield-Brown basket with 38.7 seconds left, James appeared to put it away when he connected to give the Indians an 83-81 lead with 4.5 seconds left. But all that did was set the stage for Moorefield-Brown to tie it up and for the Foxes to close it out in the second overtime.
“He has the ability to do that and, when he plays in control, we’re such a better team because he’s such a tough matchup,” Skrinjar said. “Seeing him do it and him make that last shot, I could not be happier for him as a senior to come out and extend our season.”